With Cycling Sponsorships, the Risk Is All Relative

Lars Seier Christensen, right, says that from a marketing point of view, support for Saxo Bank and Alberto Contador, center, has been "rather sensational." In January, Contador received a two-year suspension from racing for a doping offense he committed at the 2010 Tour de France. (James Startt)

Paris, Feb. 16, 2012 (Bicycling.com) — Ever since the Festina Affair in 1998, cycling has been continually crippled by doping scandals, yet still many sponsors remain committed to the sport. In recent weeks, doping-related cases have again made headlines. Perhaps the most controversial of them is the two-year suspension handed to Alberto Contador for his doping offense during the 2010 Tour de France. In his native Spain, Contador’s suspension was met with street demonstrations and even a hunger strike; in France, his team's title sponsor, Saxo Bank, took out large ads in newspapers in support of the Spaniard.

Lars Seier Christensen, Saxo Bank’s co-founder and chief executive, spoke this week with Bicycling about how the Danish investment bank has decided to handle the latest crisis concerning its star rider.

Bicycling: Are you a cyclist or a fan of the sport?

Lars Seier Christensen: I’m a fan but not a cyclist myself.

Bicycling: Saxo Bank invested in the sport primarily for business reasons, presumably because the sport assures the visibility you’re looking for.

Christensen: Yes, absolutely. It’s a big sponsorship, as you know, and we just couldn’t justify that sort of expense from any other point of view. We enjoy the sport, but our involvement is primarily commercial. We first got involved with Riis Cycling in 2008 as a secondary sponsor, and then when CSC decided to pull out we decided at the end of the year that it was the right moment to get more involved.

We’re very international but also very much Danish, and that corresponds well with the team; it’s a good match. We have a small but important group of clients around the world, and it’s not easy to reach them. We were looking at things that would get us out broadly around the world, and there just aren’t many ways to do that in sports outside of an absolutely top football club or perhaps Formula One.

Bicycling: When Cofidis got into the sport over 15 years ago, it did a marketing study with Saatchi & Saatchi. The result was that pro cycling provided some of the best visibility for the investment. Is that still the case?

Christensen: Yes, it’s still true. In terms of cost per eyeball, it’s still the best deal around. That is perhaps to some extent a discount for the risks involved, which is something we have just experienced firsthand.

This French ad reads, "Opportunities Often Come After a Crisis."

Bicycling: You inherited this last case with Contador, since his positive test for clenbuterol occurred before he signed with your team. Do you feel as if the Contador case has hurt your brand’s image? I remember during the Festina Affair in 1998, the company said that its numbers actually increased. Never before had it sold so many watches.

Christensen: Well, I don’t think it’s damaging the visibility or perception, and, yes, we do gain visibility one way or another. In addition, there’s a lot of sympathy for our team and for Alberto around the world as a result of this case. Obviously there is a wealth of sympathy and support in Spain, where we have an important office. So, from a marketing point of view, our support has been rather sensational. OK, certainly the visibility and sympathy is not coming from the way that you would prefer it. But actually, I don’t think there’s a negative connotation to it, because the advantages of support and loyalty to the team and rider place quite well with people who are interested in the sport.

If there’s one point I’d like to make, though, it’s that we would not be so supportive if we didn’t believe that Contador was innocent. If we had any inkling that there was deliberate cheating, we would not be out there doing this. It’s very important for us that CAS (the Court of Arbitration for Sport) recognized that the clenbuterol traces likely came from food contamination. It’s an interesting system where a person is punished for something he didn’t actually do deliberately; but those are the rules and that’s the way it is. It’s critically important for us that we believe that this was an involuntary intake of this substance, and we’re very pleased that CAS confirmed that. That really is an important distinction, and we’d never have run any ads or anything if we didn’t think so.

Bicycling: You took out a large ad in the French sports daily L’Equipe showing your support for Contador. How did that ad come about?

Christensen: It came out in L’Equipe but also in a few other papers in France. It was something that the local offices did. It’s up to the local offices in each country to decide how they want to use the sponsorship. Certainly, such an ad would be approved by headquarters, but aside from that it’s very much up to each country how to handle the sponsorship. Clearly, cycling is big in France, and so it’s a logical place to make this statement.

Team Saxo Bank, directed by Bjarne Riis, center, is at risk of losing its WorldTour status.

Bicycling: The ad was met with mixed reviews and some saw it as opportunistic. Were you surprised by the reaction?

Christensen: You know, we do a lot of different marketing in different countries, and we’re not so concerned with what other people think about it. We’re more concerned with what our clients think about it or what other potential clients think about it. We don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the politics of it. Our clients are traders; they’re pretty hard-nosed animals. They like loyalty and a bit of edge, so I think our clients are solidly behind us. But no, I am surprised at the reaction because of course you stick your nose out with that kind of thing. Plus, it’s important to signal values, and in my values if a guy is innocent, you have to step up and support the guy. That’s just the way we look at things.

Bicycling: Bjarne Riis announced that since Alberto could not legally race, he would no longer be paid either. Is that right?

Christensen: That’s a matter that is between Bjarne and Alberto. I’m the sponsor; I don’t negotiate contracts; I don’t buy riders. That’s really a conversation you have to have with the team. I do believe a new contract is being negotiated, but again you would have to ask the team about that. You know, at the end of the day I send them a big check and they take care of the rest. We separate our responsibility on that.

Bicycling: Are you worried that without Contador’s points the team may lose its WorldTour status?

Christensen: Well, it seems to be a real risk, but I think it would be totally unfair for the team and for Bjarne Riis. But at the end of the day, we'll have to see what the commission comes up with. It would definitely add insult to injury because what has happened is to no fault of the team.

Bicycling: I believe your sponsorship runs out at the end of this year. Does that affect your decision to continue in the sport?

Christensen: Apart from the very beginning, our sponsorships always run one year at a time. That's the way we prefer it, because in a world where things go up and down we don’t want to be tied into something. But I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on that, because if everything pans out we should have a very clear run in 2013 with what I imagine will be a pretty fired-up Alberto Contador.

Bicycling: You mentioned that the reason cycling is affordable for sponsors is that the risk of doping scandals keeps the prices down. How big do you think the sport could become without the scandals?

Christensen: I think the sport is on the up; it’s growing in popularity. It’s a great sport that plays to many agendas, such as health and cleanliness. Those are some of the big agendas of the world. And I think cycling is on the up and that doping is very much on the down. So cycling will continue to get stronger. There are new teams coming in with very big budgets. That indicates that people are clearly willing to get involved. But of course, things like this set back the sport and could potentially deter future sponsors from getting involved.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Bicycling participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.